There are many situations where it is desired to securely anchor or affix a structure onto a particular medium. In typical cases, this may be attempted by displacing material from an area of the medium to facilitate insertion of the structure into the displaced area of the medium. For example, beachgoers may desire to setup a structure, such as an umbrella, a volleyball net, a fishing rod holder, etc., in the sand. In the case of an umbrella, the beachgoer may desire to securely anchor the umbrella to the sand so that the umbrella may stand upright and may withstand wind forces. Depending on the particular design of the umbrella, securing the umbrella may require inserting a lower portion of the umbrella stand, which is typically an elongated tube structure, into the sand. However, inserting the lower portion of the umbrella stand into the sand may present unique challenges.
For example, the beachgoer may simply attempt to push the lower portion of the umbrella stand into the sand by sheer force. If the sand is soft enough to accept the umbrella base, the lower portion may be inserted in to the sand with ease. However, because the sand is soft, the sand may not be able to provide adequate anchoring strength. The sand may simply separate when pressure, such as wind pressure, is exerted on the umbrella and the umbrella may fall over, or worse, may become a potentially dangerous flying object.
On the other hand, when the sand is hard enough to potentially secure the umbrella despite the wind pressure, then it may be difficult to push the base into the sand. In this case, the beachgoer may use a different approach than simply pushing the base onto the sand. For example, the beachgoer may affix the umbrella stand to the sand by digging a hole in the sand, placing the lower portion of the umbrella stand in the hole, and then filling the hole with the previously removed sand around the umbrella stand. However, in this case, the displacement of the sand caused by digging the hole compromises the ability of the sand to provide lateral support because the sand is no longer compacted. Even when the beachgoer manually compacts the sand around the stand, such as by tamping the sand repeatedly, the movement of the base as the umbrella is subjected to wind forces causes the sand to become “uncompacted” and lose anchoring strength.
Another approach a beachgoer may use to secure the umbrella stand onto the sand may include using a beach anchor having a screw base. The screw base is screwed onto the sand providing an anchor for the umbrella stand. However, screwing the base onto the sand requires significant strength, especially when the sand is not very soft. Additionally, the screw base disturbs a significant amount of sand from the anchoring area compromising the anchoring strength of the sand, as discussed above.
In some cases, beachgoers may simply hammer anchors into the sand and tie lines between the anchors and the umbrella corners. However, this presents the same issues as discussed above because hammering the anchors onto the sand disturbs the sand, uncompacts the sand, and reduces the anchoring strength of the sand. Moreover, in this case, the lines may become tripping hazards.
Furthermore, in all cases discussed above, once the sand is disturbed and the compaction of the sand compromised, no way to re-compact the sand and apply a constant compacting force onto the sand is provided. For example, even when a beachgoer attempts to re-compact the sand by tamping the sand, once the beachgoer ceases tamping the sand, the compacting force is removed and any movement of the base tube structure will likely compromise the compaction of the sand as the sand is disturbed by the movement of the base tube structure. A beachgoer would have to again tamp the sand to re-compact it.